Mongolian masters The hu provide a cinematic marvel
The Gereg ELEVEN SEVEN MUSIC
Mongolian sensations reveal their full mastery
At the very end of Shireg Shireg, the lilting, rather lovely song that closes the debut album by Mongolian sensations The HU, the music gently fades to expose a rhythm that’s backboned almost the entire album: the sound of trotting hooves. It’s like being shown how a great piece of magic works, with the big reveal enhancing the cleverness of the trick rather than spoiling it. For The Gereg is a remarkably clever album.
It’s been attempted before, this kind of thing, combining the throat singing and folk melodies of Central Asia with Western rock music, but never so subtly, nor as smartly. Unlike the great Tuvan rock band Yat Kha, or – more recently – Tengger Cavalry, The HU have resisted the temptation to ramp up the volume in the pursuit of global appeal, instead finding an audience through a series of spectacular videos that amplify the band’s visual appeal rather than align their sound with any number of takeyer-pick stadium fillers. Inspirationally speaking, they’ve got more in common with Ivar Bjørnson and Einar Selvik’s Hugsjá and Skuggsjá projects, with largely acoustic songs that speak to myth and legend and man’s time-honoured bond with nature.
The big difference is commercial. Without shifting the sonics too far from their roots, The HU have created an album that feels epochal. From the viral smashes – Yuve Yuve Yu, Wolf Totem and The Great Chinggis Khan – through the epic sweep of The Song Of Women and the foreboding chug of The Same, it’s music of intense drama and widescreen beauty. It’s music that somehow paints a vivid portrait of the land from which it’s sprung. And for music that doesn’t shy away from covering subjects unusual in heavy metal – The Legend Of Mother Swan reflects on the power of a mother’s love for her offspring – it’s music that somehow feels both familiar and comforting. It’s as if we’ve all grown up throat singing, with the jaw harp and the horse head violin and the threestringed lute. Such is its power. ■■■■■■■■■■
FOR FANS OF: Wardruna, Alien Weaponry, Orphaned Land
FRASER LEWRY